Knife handle question

pocomoonskyeyes

Well-Known Member
Okay I have never done any knife making or kit put together of any kind. I have a coffin handle Bowie and some Goncalo Alves scales. It calls for 6 .120" pins OR 2 .180" pins,bolts etc. What is the best way to do this? I didn't see a tutorial on this... but maybe I'm blind? What do I need to do? this is a pic of the knife I got. ----

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I want to use Brass pins or bolts with the scales I've got. After being on this Forum I have seen that spacers are sometimes used. Should I use spacer material?
 
this is what i have learned from my time as a nooby maker. make it how you want it. if you think brass pins would look good do it. the important thing is that you do it the way you want and learn from the experience. i will guarantee that this will not be you last one, so experiment and see what comes of it.
 
It depends on the look you want, you can use the large pins, the small pins, or any combination of the two. As long as you use a good adhesive any pin combo will work. As for liners that is also a personal preference. But since this is your first knife I would sugggest the 2 larger pins and no liners. Don't try to do everything at once. Start with the simple stuff then add other skills as you go. Have fun!!!!!!!!!
 
Okay thank you for your replies. One of the "problems" I have run into is this... the pin holes are .120" and .180" but the pin material I have been able to locate is .125" and .187"... is this what I should use? I have never done anything like this and really have no clue!! I looked at the handle tutorial by Nikov from Bulgaria but that just raised MORE questions!!! I want to keep this simple,and easy. IF I have to,I will glue more wood on these scales and try to make it wider IF necessary. But I still have no idea if a liner is a good thing between the scales and Tang, or if it is just aesthetics. I want to do this just one shot, one go. I have a friend who has a drill press, and bench Grinder which I think is all I will need.
 
It's generally easier if you use pins that are slightly smaller than the tang holes (or drill your tang holes slightly larger than your pins). If you use a good quality epoxy, the resin will fill the rest of the hole so there's no disadvantage there. Definitely use a good quality epoxy -- no fast cure junk, no corner store junk. Clean everything very thoroughly just before glue up. Sandblasting is the best by Tracy's tests, rough sandpaper is probably the best available for those of us without a sandblaster.

Liners can cushion the scales slightly against shock -- i use them partly for that reason. If you glue the liners to the scales first they're not really any more difficult to work with then bare scales.

Order of work:

1. Glue liners to scales if using. Clean and sand the contacting surfaces just before gluing.

2. Drill scales.

3. Fit the scales together with the pins for alignment and shape and finish polish the front of the scales. You really don't want to try and work on this area once the scales are on the knife.

4. Glue the scales to the knife. Clean and sand the contacting surfaces just before gluing.

5. When the glue is partly dry, clean up all the seepage around the front of the scales as well as possible. I use Q-tips and a little acetone first, then wooden scrapers if necessary. Too much acetone will leach glue out of the joint. Sometimes I try to protect this area with a careful application of Vaseline. I'm not sure that helps. I don't try to protect it with tape after my first experience of trying to remove epoxied tape from my nice polished blade :-(

6. Shape and finish the handle. Don't get it too hot.
 
By all means, completely finish the front of the scales, right down to buffing them. Waaaay too hard to get to after they're on.

But I've found that buffing all the way around will make epoxy removal much easier.
I should point out, I get the scales to the shape of the knife's handle before I epoxy them.
 
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drill the tang hole a lettle biger & drill some slight holes on inside of handels to hold epoxy buff your guard well & use a clamp ore to good luck
 
No matter how you do it Poco, please be sure to wear a respirator ( first choice ) or a mask when sanding your wood. Some woods, especially South American ones can be highly toxic to some people and can cause an allergic reaction.
 
No matter how you do it Poco, please be sure to wear a respirator ( first choice ) or a mask when sanding your wood. Some woods, especially South American ones can be highly toxic to some people and can cause an allergic reaction.

IMNSHO they are highly toxic to ALL people and can cause an allergic reaction in some people.

as a rule I wear a respirator for ANY grinder activity (except the final sharpening) and will also wear the respirator when hand sanding on wood / micarta


don't forget that Micarta dust in the lungs is every bit as bad as wood, if not worse.
 
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